Funding Opportunities
The American Heart Association is dedicated to advancing scientific research to support the integration of food is medicine to treat, manage and prevent diet-related diseases within health care. Through our funding opportunities, we collaborate with researchers, health care professionals and community organizations to develop and implement efficacious approaches to food is medicine. Health Care by Food research grants are designed to bridge critical gaps in evidence, enhance health outcomes and target populations most in need. Whether you are an investigator pioneering novel research or a practitioner seeking to address food and nutrition insecurity and chronic disease, the Association supports groundbreaking work that will help to shape the success of food is medicine in health care.
Health Care by Food™ Planning Grant RFP
The Association has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a planning grant opportunity through its Health Care by Food initiative designed to provide support for the development of a detailed trial protocol and grant focused on developing and testing ways in which food is medicine interventions are efficacious for improved health outcomes.
Deadlines for the application period:
- Application Deadline: March 11, 2025
- This application must be submitted through AHA’s Proposal Central.
- Please visit the Application Resources page for answers on American Heart Association policies and restrictions, application preparation, and general guidelines.
Resources
American Heart Association planning grant RFP through Health Care by Food™
The Association has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a planning grant opportunity through its Health Care by Food initiative designed to provide support for the development of a detailed trial protocol and grant focused on developing and testing ways in which food is medicine (FIM) interventions are efficacious for improved health outcomes.
Investigators funded through this RFP will receive a salary and other support over the course of 12 months to optimize and finalize trial design, draft a grant proposal to a federal agency or other major funder, establish a research team, develop tools for data management and research oversight, and prepare other items needed to submit and conduct a rigorous trial of a FIM intervention.
All proposed trials should meet the definition of FIM, involving both the provision of food (via medically tailored meals, healthy food prescriptions and/or medically tailored groceries) and identification of appropriate individuals through the healthcare system. Specific areas of clinical focus will include individuals with heart failure, high-risk pregnancy, cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease and brain health. Other focus areas of interest will include examination of the critical components of benefit design including dose, duration, tapering strategies and ancillary services that facilitate efficacy in areas of clinical focus, implementation in rural settings, the incorporation of artificial intelligence (or other technologies to cost-effectively provide personalization at scale) and the testing of ways to achieve sustained behavioral change.
This award will provide up to $100,000 over a 12-month period, including up to $25,000 that can be dedicated to preliminary data collection with appropriate justification. This support can be used to optimize trial design, draft grant proposals, finalize protocols, establish research teams, develop data management tools and prepare for rigorous trials. The primary deliverable is a competitive proposal for funding a minimum of $3 million from a government agency or other major funder.